Heat Wave (For Real Not Castle's Book)
by TXMedic
Summary: A heat wave hits New York. Ryan and Esposito go from partners to PARTNERS.)


This bit of nonsense is a response to a challenge at ryspositoficchallenge dot tumblr dot com. ABC owns the familiar characters, the bad guys are mine. This has not been beta-ed, so all mistakes are mine. This is slash, so Jenny obviously doesn't exist.

Heat Wave

(For Real. Not Castle's Book.)

July had sort of blown in like an arid gust of wind. The heat was relentless, making life a misery for even hard core New Yorkers. Not surprisingly the murder rate had gone up, making life for the Homicide detectives at the 12th precinct more difficult. As soon as they wrapped up the paperwork for one case, another body would drop. The heat and long hours were getting to everyone.

Shifting from foot to foot, pulling at his chaffing collar, Detective Kevin Ryan waited impatiently for his partner to finish paying for the ice-cream cone that was already melting. The cold would be a welcome respite from the heat, but Ryan shuddered at the thought of a belly full of dairy. If Javier Esposito wanted to tempt fate, let him. Sweat ran down the back of his neck, soaking into the starched collar of his dress shirt. Ryan hoped his epitaph wouldn't read, "Kevin Ryan, killed by his own suit. Death by heatstroke."

Detective Esposito finally joined him, licking at the sides of his cone as quickly as he could to catch the drips so his fingers wouldn't get sticky. Ryan, from much practice, ignored the desire to stare at his partner's tongue. If Javier would just outright say or show that he was interested Kevin would act on his long-time crush on the Hispanic detective. All he ever got was mixed signals, and that wasn't enough for Ryan to risk the easy partnership/friendship they already had.

With a sigh, he fell into step with Esposito as they continued their interrupted journey back to the 12th. The heat was oppressive, almost suffocating, and the sidewalk seemed to burn right through his dress shoes. He was wearing boots tomorrow, since the sole was thicker. And jeans. And a polo. Seriously, his suit was trying to murder him.

Ryan glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye. Espo's tongue continued to swipe at the melting ice-cream in long, seemingly sensual, strokes. As if Ryan wasn't already hot and bothered. He sighed again, this time out of frustration at his oblivious partner and not the heat.

Finishing off the ice-cream in a few bites, Esposito swiped at his fingers with the tattered paper napkin that had been wrapped around the cone. He tossed the balled up paper into a nearby trashcan as he and Ryan turned the corner of the NYPD 12th Precinct building. As his partner sighed for the umpteenth time, Javier chuckled and shook his head. "Well, if you'd ditch the freakin' three piece suit, maybe you wouldn't be about to smother."

Ignoring his partner, Kevin jerked open the door to the precinct and stepped inside. A blast of cold air hit him as they headed to the elevator and the Irish detective almost released an honest-to-goodness moan of relief. By the time the two reached their desks, Ryan was already shedding his jacket. He draped it over the back of his chair. His long, nimble fingers pulled at the buttons of his waistcoat which soon joined the jacket. He loosened his tie and popped the top button of his dress shirt. Screw professionalism; he wasn't going to stroke out for the job.

Dropping into his seat with yet another sigh, Ryan glanced across to Beckett's desk. Detective Kate Beckett wasn't immune to the effects of the heat and was busy sniping at the tag-along writer, Richard Castle. Castle had been shadowing them for over a year, now, and his first book was coming out soon. It was titled, appropriately enough, Heat Wave. As the release date for the book approached, Beckett got more anxious and antsy. At least she was taking out her frustration on Castle, so far, and leaving her junior partners alone.

Esposito briefly gripped Ryan's shoulder as his partner leaned down to whisper in his ear, "At least Castle is good for something. He's keeping her from sniping at us all day." The hand slid away as Espo sat in his own chair and turned toward his desk. Ryan felt like the touch had scorched through his shirt. He seriously needed to do something about his stupid crush. Either act on it or let it go, but this stupid pining was getting out of hand.

The two detectives spent several hours in companionable silence as they each worked their own angles on the current case. Beckett and Castle had long since left the precinct to go interview the victim's mother once again, hoping for some new information. After going through the list of financial information on his desk, Ryan rolled his chair over next to his partner and compared his list to Esposito's printed phone records. Between the two, they finally had a viable suspect. Two, actually: The victim's brother and his wife.

Making their way back down to the lobby, the two both reached for the doors to push them open. Esposito paused, his large hand curled around the door handle. "I wish we could catch a murder done in a restaurant freezer or something."

Pushing on the door, wincing at the hot blast of air, Ryan chuckled. "I'll keep my fingers crossed, Javi."

The brilliant smile his partner flashed at him nearly made Ryan melt from more than just the heat radiating off the sidewalk. Jeez, he was so far gone in his crush on Javier. It was getting ridiculous. But, seriously, no man should be able to pull off dimples as sexy. Dimples should be cute. Not I-wanna-rip-your-clothes-off sexy. Dragging his brain off its path to the gutter, Ryan tried to concentrate on their task. It was difficult.

They made their way to the apartment building where their suspects resided, enjoying the police-issued car's air-conditioning along the way, only to find the couple not at home. A quick chat with the doorman earned them the information that the couple had braved the Saturday heat to take a walk in Central Park. Trudging back to the car, the detectives made their way to the park. Esposito seemed to drive more slowly than normal, no doubt trying to enjoy as much cool air as possible. Ryan just wanted the day to end.

Of course, Central Park was too big to just wander around in hopes of seeing their suspects. Esposito had called and had Mike Everett's phone pinged in hopes of narrowing their search area. As he parked the car, his phone chirped to alert him of an incoming text. With a fortifying breath, the two men reluctantly stepped out of the car and shut their doors. Espo pulled out his cell phone and checked the text message. He grinned across the hood of the car at his partner.

"They're near the Reservoir. Dispatch says the ping hasn't changed in the last ten minutes. Hopefully they're still there." Esposito slipped the cell phone back into his jeans pocket and led the way into the park.

By the time they approached the side of the Reservoir where the phone had pinged, Ryan's dress shirt was clinging to his back uncomfortably. Even with the top button undone, it felt like his tie was trying to do him in. Spotting the couple on a bench between the path and the water, the detectives veered off the concrete and across the grass. Ryan slipped his badge from his belt and held it up as they neared the suspects.

"NYPD. Detective Ryan, and this is my partner Detective Esposito-." Something must've shown in their sweat-coated faces. Before Ryan could finish his sentence, Mike and Diane Everett leapt from the bench and took off running.

"Shit." Esposito quickly gave chase, Ryan right behind him. Kevin laughed internally at the string of curses coming from his partner as they ran after the fleeing couple.

The escaping suspects split up, Diane sprinting along the path and Mike veering off back toward the Reservoir. Esposito followed the wife, leaving Ryan to catch the husband. Now Ryan was muttering his own curses. Digging deep for energy he didn't have, Kevin tried to dredge up a little more speed. As he gained on Mr. Everett, the suspect ran straight into the water.

What the fuck was the man doing? Without pausing, Ryan followed him into the water. Luckily, it appeared the detective was the better swimmer. Kevin quickly caught up to the suspect and stretched out his arm to grab the man by his collar. Mike swung around and threw a clumsy punch. As it turned into a brawl, Ryan felt a sudden flash of fear. Fighting on land, he could more than hold his own. Fighting in water? Maybe not.

Everett was about Castle's height, so a good five inches taller than Ryan. The murdering fool could probably touch the bottom, whereas the detective was forced to fight while treading water. The two traded awkward punches until Everett managed to get behind Ryan. The taller man tried to wrap his arm around Ryan's neck and the struggling detective threw back a desperate elbow. A satisfying crack and the subsequent shriek of pain make Ryan smile grimly. He'd broken the asshat's nose. Treading water, he turned around to grab a handful of Everett's hair and started pulling the suspect toward shore.

As he managed to get them to hip-deep water, his partner splashed his way to the struggling pair. Ryan smiled his relief when Esposito took a firm grip on Everett and pulled the suspect toward shore. The heat, the chase and the fight had taken just about every ounce of energy Kevin had started the day with. By the time he reached land once more, the weary detective was crawling. He finally just collapsed on the grass, still in the water from mid-shin down. As he panted for air, he sensed more than saw Esposito kneel down next to him. That scorching hand was back on his shoulder.

"You okay, bro?"

Genuine concern, if not a little humor, laced his partner's voice. Coughing out a mouthful of nasty lake water, Ryan nodded his head against the grass. "Yeah. Peachy."

"Both knuckleheads are cuffed. I called for a patrol unit to come pick them up and take them to the 12th, so you've got a few minutes until we have to head back to the car."

The hand patted his shoulder blade a few times then disappeared. As Ryan tried to slow his breathing and waited for the leaden feeling to leave his muscles, he reflected that at least he was now cooler. Although the grass beneath his cheek was getting kind of itchy. Would this miserable day ever end?

There had been a patrol unit in the area, so the detectives hadn't had to wait long to turn over their suspects. By then, Ryan had recovered enough energy to join his partner near the path to stare balefully at the handcuffed pair sitting on the ground. Once the Everett's were being marched to the waiting patrol car, Ryan and Esposito trudged back to their own vehicle.

The ride back to the 12th was too long, Ryan's clothes clinging wetly to him in places he'd prefer not to think about. At least not while sitting so close to Esposito. Once back at the precinct Ryan held his head up and stuck out his chin, ignoring the jibes from his fellow cops as he trailed water down the hall to the locker room. His shoes squelched noisily, eliciting more than one burst of laughter. Esposito followed along behind him, shooting glares at anyone caught laughing at his hapless partner.

"Ignore 'em, Ryan. Half of them wouldn't have the balls to swim after a murder suspect like that."

Heading straight for his locker, letting Esposito shut the door behind them, Ryan coughed up a little more water. "I don't care, Espo. Let them laugh. We caught the murderers, and for a little while today I wasn't broiling."

"True." Ryan could hear the humor in his partner's voice.

It took two tries to get his locker combination right. He slipped the lock off and opened his locker, letting the door clang gently against the locker next to it. Ryan slumped to sit on the wooden bench and let his hands rest on his thighs for a few minutes in utter exhaustion. He looked up when his partner slid to stand in front of him. When Ryan looked up, Esposito's face held an expression he'd never noticed before.

"Let me help."

His partner loosened the ruined tie and slipped it over Ryan's head, Espo's brown eyes soft yet intense. When Esposito's fingers started to unbutton the white dress shirt, Ryan couldn't tear his gaze away. The contrast between Javier's tan hands and his once-crisp white shirt was startling. This was…intimate. Their personal boundaries had always been a bit blurred when it came to each other, but this was different.

Those strong brown hands tugged, urging Ryan to his feet so Espo could undo the rest of the buttons and tug the shirt tails from Ryan's trousers. Brown-eyed gaze now smoldering, Javier pushed off the damp shirt. The older detective's hands slid over Kevin's shoulders and down his arms in what could only be described as a caress. Kevin couldn't stop his involuntary shiver of desire.

Esposito closed what little space there was between them and leaned forward, pressing his lips against Ryan's. The kiss was needy, a little clumsy, but hot all the same. Ryan let himself relax against his partner's firm chest, heat radiating off of Esposito. The kiss didn't last nearly long enough before Javier was pushing him back, a horrified look on his face.

"Holy shit, Kev. I'm sorry, I-I," Esposito stuttered, appalled at his lack of self-control. "It's just so damn hot!"

"I'll say it was." Ryan chose to misunderstand what his partner had meant. "Let's do it again."

Relief washed over Javier's features then his forehead wrinkled adorably as he shot his partner a puzzled look. "Wait, you're okay with this?"

Ryan let his hands reach out to explore the expanse of muscles he'd longed to touch for so long. He hummed appreciatively and smiled at his partner's confusion. "I'm more than okay with it, Javi. It's about damn time, I'd say."

Pulling Ryan tight against him, Esposito matched his partner's smug grin. "Oh, yeah? Let's try that kiss again."

This time there was more want, more passion, as tongues explored and tasted. Hands caressed places familiar, yet not. Both men were half hard by the time they broke for air. Resting his forehead against Ryan's, Esposito chuckled softly. "We only have to get through a few more hours, then how about we head over to my place to finish this? I have an ice-maker in my fridge."

Unsure what an ice-maker had to do with anything, Ryan frowned. "So?"

Soft lips brushed his ear as Esposito whispered, "I know a lot of really creative uses for ice cubes."

Ryan shivered, and hoped this day would never end.

END


End file.
